Grant Gustin Will Make Broadway Debut in WATER FOR ELEPHANTS; Additional Cast Revealed

Grant Gustin will make his Broadway debut in the upcoming new musical Water For Elephants, which is set for come to Broadway in February 2024! The cast will also include Isabelle McCalla (The Prom, Shucked), four-time Tony Award nominee Gregg Edelman (City of Angels), Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle Award nominee Paul Alexander Nolan (Slave Play), Stan Brown (“Homicide: Life in the Streets”), Joe De Paul (Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion), Sara Gettelfinger (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and Wade McCollum (Wicked). Additional casting is to be announced soon.

Plus watch an all new video of Gustin and McCalla performing the song 'WILD' from the show here!

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is based on the critically acclaimed and New York Times Bestselling novel by Sara Gruen. The new musical has a book by three-time Tony Award nominee Rick Elice (Jersey Boys, Peter and the Starcatcher), a soaring score by the acclaimed PigPen Theatre Co. (The Tale of Despereaux) and is directed by Tony Award nominee Jessica Stone (Kimberly Akimbo).  

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS begins previews on Saturday, February 24, 2024, and opens on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at the Imperial Theatre (249 West 45th Street).

After losing what matters most, a young man jumps a moving train unsure of where the road will take him and finds a new home with the remarkable crew of a traveling circus, and a life—and love—beyond his wildest dreams. Seen through the eyes of his older self, his adventure becomes a poignant reminder that if you choose the ride, life can begin again at any age.  

Tickets for WATER FOR ELEPHANTS are available at Telecharge.com (212.239.6200) and range from $59 - $199 (including $2 facility fee).  The playing schedule for WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is as follows: Tuesday through Saturday at 8pm, with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm, and Sunday at 3pm.  Please Note: There will be no matinee performance Saturday, February 24, Wednesday, February 28, and Wednesday, March 6, and no evening performance Tuesday, February 27.  Beginning Friday, March 22, the playing schedule will be as follows: Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 7pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 8pm, with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm. 

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS features circus design by Shana Carroll (The 7 Fingers), choreography by Jesse Robb (Miss Saigon) and Shana Carroll, scenic design by Drama Desk Award winner Takeshi Kata (Clyde’s), costume design by David Israel Reynoso (Sleep No More), lighting design by two-time Tony Award winner Bradley King (Hadestown), sound design by Tony Award nominee Walter Trarbach (Spongebob Squarepants), projections by David Bengali (The Thanksgiving Play), hair & makeup design by Campbell Young Associates (A Beautiful Noise), puppetry design by Camille Labarre (Into the Woods), music supervision and arrangements by Drama Desk Award winner Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Some Like It Hot) and Benedict Braxton-Smith (Kristin Chenoweth: For the Girls), orchestrations by Tony Award winner Daryl Waters (New York, New York), music direction by Elizabeth Doran, fight direction by Cha Ramos (Jagged Little Pill), production stage management by Timothy R. Semon (Company), and casting by Tara Rubin Casting.  

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS had its world premiere in Atlanta on The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre, running from June 7, 2023, through July 9, 2023. 

Biographies

Grant Gustin (Jacob Jankowski). Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, Grant always enjoyed performing. While attending Granby High School, he attended the prestigious Governor’s School for the Arts program to focus on musical theatre and appeared in Cabaret, All Shook Up, and Little Shop of Horrors.  After graduation, Gustin was admitted into the BFA Music Theatre Program at Elon University in North Carolina.  It was during his sophomore year that he decided to audition for the Broadway revival tour of West Side Story and was awarded the role of Baby John and toured across the country with over 400 performances. After wrapping the tour, Grant joined the third season of the popular musical series, “Glee” in which he played Sebastian Smythe, the lead of Dalton Academy's Warblers singing group. On the film side, Grant was seen in the independent film Krystal, directed by William H. Macy. The cast included Felicity Huffman, Rosario Dawson, Nick Robinson, and Kathy Bates. Grant was also part of the ensemble cast of the indie drama Affluenza, directed by Kevin Asch. Grant starred for nine seasons on the globally successful series, “The Flash.”  His role as Barry Allen brought Grant widespread acclaim as well as several awards. Grant has also made several crossover appearances on “Arrow," "Legends of Tomorrow," and "Supergirl," as well as having guested on such series as “90210” and “CSI: Miami.”

Isabelle McCalla (Marlena) is currently starring as Maizy in Shucked on Broadway. She originated the role of Alyssa Greene in The Prom and played Princess Jasmine in Aladdin both on Broadway and the North American Tour. She originated the role of Marlena in the world premiere of Water for Elephants at the Alliance Theatre this past summer. Other stage credits include Meg in Hercules at Paper Mill Playhouse, Ariel Moore in Footloose (Kennedy Center), and Tink in Fly (La Jolla Playhouse). TV: “Extrapolations” (AppleTV+), “And Just Like That” (HBO), “Law & Order,” (NBC), “Bull” (CBS). @izzymccalla

Gregg Edelman (Mr. Jankowski) has been part of the New York theatre scene for the past forty years. His performances have earned him four TONY nominations, the Drama Desk Award, as well as many other honors. He has starred in such shows as City Of Angels, 1776, Into The Woods, Les Misérables, Wonderful Town, to name a few. Other productions around town include Richard Greenberg’s The Perplexed at MTC, Candide at the New York City Opera and the world premiere of A.R. Gurney’s Black Tie. His filmography includes She Came To Me, She Said, Little Children, Liberal Arts, among many others, and his work on television includes “The Sinner,” “House Of Cards,” all the “Law and Order” programs, among many others. He is an Artistic Associate at the Berkshire Theatre Group and has directed numerous shows there including Constellations, Once, What We May Be, White Christmas, and Arsenic and Old Lace, among others.

Paul Alexander Nolan (August). Paul Alexander Nolan’s role as August in Water for Elephants will mark his 10th Broadway show. Most recently, he played prosecutor Hugh Dorsey in the 2023 Tony-winning revival of Parade. In 2021, he reprised his role as Jim in the most Tony-nominated play in history, Slave Play, and toured with that production to the Mark Taper Forum in LA. Other Broadway roles include Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Guy in Once, Jimmy Ray in Bright Star (Drama Desk nomination), Pasha/Strelnikov in Doctor Zhivago (Outer Critics Circle nomination), Billy Flynn in Chicago, and Tully in Escape to Margaritaville. Off Broadway: Original casts of Daddy Long Legs and Slave Play. Recent regional: Life After at Chicago's Goodman Theatre and Ahrens and Flaherty’s new musical, Knoxville, at Asolo Rep, directed by the late Frank Galati. Paul can be heard on 6 original cast albums. TV credits include “The Code,” “Madam Secretary” and “Instinct” for CBS.

Stan Brown (Camel) is grateful to make a Broadway debut at 60-years-old. Favorite credits include Cherry Lane's "Open Heart," NBC's "Homicide: Life in the Streets," "In the Heat of the Night," and the acclaimed series "I’ll Fly Away". Film credits include Modern Love (dir. Robby Benson) and Getting In (dir. Doug Liman). In the award-winning short film, The Bespoke Tailoring of Mr. Bellamy (dir. Alexander Jeffery), Stan's portrayal won the Louisiana Film Prize's Best Actor award. The film was also shortlisted for the Academy Award ballot. Stan holds the Inaugural W. Rockwell Wirtz Professorship in Acting at Northwestern University. He holds an MFA in Acting from the University of South Carolina, received classical training as an Acting Fellow at Washington D.C. 's Shakespeare Theatre, and did postgraduate research in Contemporary Shakespearean Performance at Warwick University (Coventry, England). Stan's work caught the attention of the late Cicely Berry, former Head of Voice at the Royal Shakespeare Company (England), who became his mentor and personally invited him to continue his research with the Voice Department at the RSC.

JOE De PAUL (Walter). Canadian clown, actor, teacher, director Joe De Paul has performed in various productions across North America and Europe, ranging from classical theatre to new works, receiving the META award for Best Actor for Head À Tëte. Joe has appeared on screen in projects such as Bonnano, A God Father Story, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Sirens, Space Cases, Sublet, Frankenstein and Me, Are you afraid of the Dark?, Clutch, Indoors, and Vendetta: The New mafia. In 1999 Joe really did run away with the circus and began his career as a clown performing in numerous Cirque du Soleil productions, including his debut in the North American tour and in the Emmy award winning film version of Dralion. Joe’s unique physical comedy has brought him critical acclaim in various circuses and cabarets in North America and Europe including Salto Natale in Zurich, Palazzo in Germany, and Cirque Zanzibar in France. Joe has toured from Spain to Finland with Los Galindos circus. Joe co-founded the “Collectif Clown International de Marseille” for the research and development of new works. He has taught at the Geneva Circus School, National Theatre School of Canada, L’École National du Cirque and Concordia University. He has directed clowns for Cirque du Soleil’s Ama Luna, Ka, Drawn to Life and directed and starred in over 15 productions of Teatro Zinzanni in Seattle, San Francisco, and Chicago. Joe has authored and toured internationally two full length productions, Placebo and Thank God for Tim and Joe. Joe was a proud member of the world premiere for Water for Elephants at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in the Spring of 2023.

Sara Gettelfinger (Barbara) most recently starred as Barbara in the world premiere of Water for Elephants (directed by Jessica Stone at The Alliance Theatre) and as Star in the regional premiere of The Cher Show (Ogunquit Playhouse). Broadway/National Tours: The Addams Family (Morticia), A Free Man of Color (Dona Athene opposite Jeffrey Wright and Mos Def), The 101 Dalmatians Musical (Cruella de Vil), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Jolene Oakes opposite John Lithgow), Nine (Carla, with Antonio Banderas and John Stamos), The Boys from Syracuse, Seussical, Fosse. Other NYC/Regional: Atomic,Carnival!, Tenderloin, Chicago, Grey Gardens, Anything Goes, Catch Me If You Can, Pippin. TV/Film: “Guiding Light,” “Ed,” “Without a Trace,” “Georgetown,” “The Big C,” “Forbidden Love,” and “Sex and the City.”  

Wade McCollum (Wade). Broadway: Wicked (Witch’s Father, Wizard/Dr. Dillamond cover) London’s West End: World Premiere of It Happened in Key West (Carl) Broadway Tours: Lincoln Center Theatre’s My Fair Lady (Karpathy/Higgins cover), Priscilla Queen Of The Desert (Tick/Mitzi), Jersey Boys (Norm). Off-Broadway: Make Me Gorgeous, (Kate/Kenneth Marlowe), Triassic Parq (Velociraptor of Faith), Secondary Dominance (The Muse), and McCollum’s Lortel Nominated and Norton Award-winning performance as Ernest in Ernest Shackleton Loves Me. World Premieres: Water For Elephants, Alliance Theatre (Wade); Michael Weller’s A Welcome Guest, CATF (Shimeus); Rob Askins’ The Carpenter, Alley Theatre (Gene); Fly By Night, TheatreWorks Palo Alto (The Narrator). Select Theatre: I Am My Own Wife, PCS (Charlotte/Others); A Lie Of The Mind, PCPA (Jake); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Willamette Rep (Puck); Batboy the Musical, PCS (Batboy); The Rocky Horror Show, Triangle Productions (Frank-N-Furter); The Santaland Diaries, Syracuse Stage (Crumpet); Cabaret, Dallas Theatre Center (Emcee) - Dallas/Fort Worth Theatre Critics Award; Hedwig And The Angry Inch, Triangle Productions and L.A.’s Celebration Theatre (Hedwig) - Drammy, Ovation, Los Angeles Critics Circle, and Garland Awards. Select TV and film: “FBI: MW,” “Madame Secretary,” “The Knick,” “Nightcap,” “At Home with Amy Sedaris,” Options, “Prodigal Son,” Delicate Instruments, “Submissions Only,” and Ernest Shackleton Loves Me on broadwayhd.com. www.wadesong.com

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